


Slipping Through My Fingers

by Rose_Morgan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Movies, Songfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:21:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23166169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Morgan/pseuds/Rose_Morgan
Summary: Three generations of mother-daughter moments set on September 1, the day the daughters go to Hogwarts for the first timeA/N: There will be two more chapters to this fic, I just haven't gotten around to finishing them yet, so please don't comment and say that there's only one when the summary says three. I promise the other two will get added.





	Slipping Through My Fingers

**Author's Note:**

> Neshama sheli – "my soul" (Hebrew)
> 
> Eema – "mom" (Hebrew)
> 
> Bracha – Vera's Hebrew name

**_Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning_ **

**_Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile_ **

**_I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness_ **

**_And I have to sit down for a while_ **

Lehava watched her granddaughter climb aboard the train, and gave a small wave when the young girl appeared by a compartment window a few minutes later. Vera beamed and waved back enthusiastically, mouthing ‘I love you’ to her grandmother, who blinked back tears. It was Vera’s first year at Hogwarts, and Lehava couldn’t have been prouder, but she would also miss her terribly. The older witch continued to wave until the train had left the station, and then walked to one of the benches, deciding to rest before making the journey back home. 

**_The feeling that I'm losing her forever_ **

**_And without really entering her world_ **

**_I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter_ **

**_That funny little girl_ **

Vera was a wonderful child, and Lehava cherished every moment she was able to spend with the young girl. Those moments would be limited now that Vera would be at school for most of the year, and while Lehava was excited for her granddaughter, she was also a bit melancholic. She felt as if she hadn’t really gotten the chance to know Vera, despite spending the last eleven years raising her. She was going to miss important milestones, both academic and romantic, though deep down she knew Vera would write to her about everything. 

**_Slipping through my fingers all the time_ **

**_I try to capture every minute_ **

**_The feeling in it_ **

**_Slipping through my fingers all the time_ **

**_Do I really see what's in her mind?_ **

**_Each time I think I'm close to knowing_ **

**_She keeps on growing_ **

**_Slipping through my fingers all the time_ **

Lehava walked back through the wall to the Muggle world, and hailed a taxi outside the station. The drive back to her house was about an hour, and she spent most of it reminiscing. She had moved to Southend-on-Sea, Essex, when Vera was born, to help her daughter and son-in-law with the household chores, but as time went on she became more and more like a parent, and less like a grandmother. Lehava fed Vera, changed her, dressed her, and took her to all the necessary doctor’s appointments. She even took charge of Vera’s education, and made certain the girl was more than prepared for Hogwarts. Vera’s father, Vincent, visited from time to time, but not enough for Vera to really see him as her father, though she knew by blood he was. Malka came once, but it was only to announce that she was getting a divorce from Vincent. Why Malka had waited eleven years to get one, especially when they’d been separated since Vera was a baby, Lehava didn’t know. Malka spent the entire visit ignoring Vera, even though Lehava tried her hardest to get them to interact. After Malka left, Vera had remarked that she was glad Lehava was her mother figure, because Malka didn’t seem to care very much about her family, or people in general. Even though the observation made Lehava sad – after all, it was her own daughter they were speaking about – she also felt relieved to know that Vera saw her in such a positive light. They’d had a long talk that night, and Lehava had explained the intricacies of their family, such as Malka wanted nothing to do with motherhood, and had only had Vera as a way to secure the lineage of both her father, Gellert Grindelwald, and her husband, Vincent, though she did not care for the latter very much, so she was doing it more for his parents. Lehava had also explained that Malka had moved to America when Vera was barely a year old, and Vincent spent most of his time abroad for work. Vera had listened patiently, nodding in understanding at different points, then curled up next to her grandmother and asked for a story. 

**_Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table_ **

**_Barely awake, I let precious time go by_ **

**_Then when she's gone, there's that odd melancholy feeling_ **

**_And a sense of guilt I can't deny_ **

Lehava flicked on the lights to her house, and shut the front door behind her. She hung her coat up next, then slowly made her way to the kitchen, exhausted by the day’s events. She slid into one of the kitchen table chairs after putting the kettle on, and folded her hands on the table, finally noticing how quiet the place was. It was a stark contrast to that morning, when Vera had been talking excitedly about Hogwarts, and Lehava had listened attentively, as she herself had not attended Hogwarts. She hadn’t attended a wizarding school at all, in fact. There wasn’t one in Israel, where she had grown up, so her parents had taught her everything they knew, as they had attended Durmstrang. Fortunately, Lehava had some basic knowledge of Hogwarts, due hearing about it from her parents, and so was able to explain the Houses to her granddaughter, who quickly decided she would be in Slytherin, regardless of what the Sorting Hat said. Lehava had laughed softly before adding that the Sorting Hat took a person’s preference into account, so Vera didn’t need to threaten it in order to get the House she wanted. 

**_What happened to the wonderful adventures_ **

**_The places I had planned for us to go?_ **

**_(Slipping through my fingers all the time)_ **

**_Well, some of that we did, but most we didn't_ **

**_And why, I just don't know_ **

“I want you to come to my first Quidditch match, Eema!” Vera requested, and Lehava smiled. 

“What position will you play, _neshama sheli?”_ Lehava asked, raising her coffee mug to her lips. 

“I want to be a Chaser!” Vera declared, having read articles on all the different positions. 

“Oh, that's the most important position, isn't it?” Lehava recalled, setting her mug down on the table. 

Vera shrugged and slid some eggs onto her toast. “I don't know about that, but I know it's the position that affords the most action.” 

“I see.” Lehava smiled, unfolding the Daily Prophet and glancing at the front page. There was nothing of note, so she closed it and looked up at the clock. “Are you all packed, my love? We need to leave soon.” 

“Yes, I am!” Vera nodded, practically bouncing in her chair at the thought of leaving for Hogwarts. 

“Good.” Lehava stood and placed a hand on her granddaughter’s head, smiling. “I'll load the car while you finish your breakfast.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you?” Vera asked, preparing to set her fork down. 

“No, darling, I’ll be fine.” Lehava assaured, and waved her wand gracefully. Several pieces of luggage floated down the stairs and towards the front door, which opened when they reached it. There were soft clunks as the luggage slid into the trunk and onto the backseat, then a quiet thud as the doors shut firmly. “See? I didn’t even have to lift a finger.” the woman took her seat again and picked up the second newspaper, _The Jewish Chronicle_ , wanting to see if anything of interest was happening in her community. 

“Eema, can we go to Israel some day?” Vera asked, scraping the last of her eggs onto a piece of toast. “I want to see Jerusalem.” she added, biting into the food combo. 

Lehava blinked, surprised by the request. She had talked about Israel before, and at length sometimes, but she hadn’t ever imagined that Vera would want to go there. “Of course.” Lehava smiled, folding up the newspaper. “We’ll go when you come home for Christmas, or perhaps Easter.” 

Vera beamed as she picked up her dishes. “I’d love that. Thank you, Eema.” she leaned down and kissed her grandmother’s cheek, then headed over to the sink to wash her dishes. 

“You know, you can use magic for that.” Lehava said, amused by how Muggle-like her granddaughter’s action was. 

Vera shrugged as she scrubbed the dish. “Magic doesn’t clean them as well as I do.” she said, rinsing the soap off. “It leaves spots.” she added, placing it on the rack. 

Lehava laughed quietly. “Yes, I suppose it does.” she agreed, bringing her dishes over to the sink. She took Vera’s lead and washed them by hand, which turned out to be more fun than she had expected. Vera was right, too. They were much cleaner when done by hand. “I know you said you would like to go to Israel, and we shall, but would you also like to go to France? Or perhaps Portugal? Or Italy?”

Vera blinked at her grandmother. She had mentioned liking all of those places, but she never imagined she’d get to go. “Can I say yes to all of them, or do I have to pick just one?”

“We can go to all of them, if that’s what you want.” Lehava said, placing her plate and mug next to Vera’s on the rack. 

“I’d love that.” Vera smiled brightly, drying her hands with a dish towel. “Thank you, Eema. You’re the best.” she leaned over and gave her grandmother a tight hug, conveying that she was grateful for more than just the travel offers. 

**_Slipping through my fingers all the time_ **

**_I try to capture every minute_ **

**_The feeling in it_ **

**_Slipping through my fingers all the time_ **

**_Do I really see what's in her mind_ **

**_Each time I think I'm close to knowing_ **

**_She keeps on growing_ **

**_Slipping through my fingers all the time_ **

Lehava was pulled out of her memories by the screaming kettle, which she silenced with a wave of her hand. She rose from the chair a moment later and walked over to the cabinet adjacent to the stove, and pulled out a mug. With another wave of her hand, a teabag flew out of a drawer and landed in the cup, ready to be doused in boiling water. Lehava leaned against the counter with her arms folded as the kettle filled the mug, and picked up the drinkware when the task was completed. In addition to being quiet, the house felt sort of grey, which was a stark contrast to the vibrancy of that morning. Lehava looked up at the clock on the wall, and sighed when she realized it had only been an hour since Vera’s departure. The entirety of autumn was going to be excruciating without the young girl, but Lehava knew that Hogwarts was one of the best things that would ever happen to Vera, and despite the loneliness that the girl’s absence had created, Lehava knew that her granddaughter would be back home soon enough. 

**_Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture_ **

**_And save it from the funny tricks of time_ **

**_Slipping through my fingers all the time_ **

**_Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning_ **

**_Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile_ **

Lehava tucked her chair in and turned the main kitchen light off, though she left the one over the sink on, since she’d need it to wash her mug. A nostalgic smile formed on her lips as she walked past the pictures of Vera and herself that were mounted on the hallway wall. Due to them being Muggle photographs, the figures didn’t move, and somehow that was better. Lehava needed moments with her granddaughter frozen in time, because in seven years, Vera would be all grown up. Of course, to a child, seven years felt like eons. But to their guardian, it felt like the blink of an eye. 

**_Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning_ **

**_Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile_ **

Lehava reached the top of the stairs a few moments later, and made her way down the upstairs hallway to her bedroom. She flicked on the light and walked over to her desk, which was littered with more photographs — though unlike the ones downstairs, these were animated – books, and a small pile of papers. Lehava set her mug on a coaster and slid into the desk chair, intending to write some letters. One was to Vera, one was to Malka and Vincent – even though she doubted they would care what their daughter was up to – and the last was to her estranged husband, Gellert Grindelwald. Despite all that he believed, and the devastation he had caused the Wizarding World, he loved his granddaughter, and always requested updates on her whenever the guards allowed him to write letters to Lehava. 

Lehava decided to start with Vera first. She would ask the girl how the journey had been, and if she’d made any friends. She’d promise to send as many packages as the school allowed, and would visit from time to time. In her letter, she proposed that they write as much as they could, but wouldn’t be offended if Vera only wrote once a week, or every few weeks. She had a new life, after all, and Lehava never wanted to prevent her from experiencing what that life had to offer.

_I’ll talk to you soon, my little Bracha. I hope you have many wonderful adventures at Hogwarts, and I can’t wait to hear all about them. I look forward to your letters, and to seeing you again, whenever that may be. –Love, Eema_


End file.
